History of the United States: From the Earliest Period to the ..., 第 4 卷

gether with twenty-six guns and a large amount of ordnance stores, ammunition, supplies, etc.

Fort Morgan still held out, and some two weeks were spent in preparing for its reduction. Powerful batteries were erected on Mobile Point, and at dawn, on the 22d of August, the combined attack began. The fire was steadily kept up during the day from the shore batteries, the monitors and ships inside, and the vessels outside the bay. Between nine and ten in the evening, a shell, from one of the land batteries, exploded in the citadel and set it on fire. The bombardment was kept up slowly but steadily through the night, and again became general with the daylight on the 23d. An hour afterward, at six A.m., a white flag was hoisted in the fort, and at two in the afternoon, the fort was unconditionally surrendered by its commander, R. L. Page.

By this surrender Canby reported: "We have about 600 prisoners, sixty pieces of artillery, and a large quantity of material. In the twelve hours preceding the surrender, about 3,000 shell were thrown into the fort. The citadel and barracks are entirely destroyed, and the works generally much injured. Many of the guns were spiked, the carriages burned, and much of the ammunition destroyed by the rebels.* The losses in the army

* Farragut, in his dispatch, contrasts the conduct of Anderson at Fort Gaines with that of Page on this occasion. The former behaved in an honorable manner after the surrender, " whilst Page and his officers, with a childish spite, destroyed guns which they said they would defend to the last, but which they never

were one man killed and seven wounded."

The city of Mobile, it is true, was not yet captured, but that was comparatively of minor importance. The possession of the bay effectually suppressed every attempt to use the harbor as heretofore by blockade runners, or' for fitting out piratical cruisers. President Lincoln, under date of September 3d, ordered salutes of 100 guns to be fired at the national arsenals and navy yards, in commemoration of the brilliant achievements of the army and navy. By another order he congratulated the officers and men who had taken part in the work just accomlished. "The national thanks are tendered by the president to Admiral Farragut and Major-General Canby for the skill and harmony with which the recent operations in Mobile harbor and against Fort Powell, Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan were planned and carried into execution; also to Admiral Farragut and Major-General Granger, under whose immediate command they were conducted, and to the gallant commanders on sea and land, and to the sailors and soldiers engaged in the operations, for their energy and courage, which, under the blessing of Providence, have been crowned with brilliant success, .' and have won for them the applause and thanks of the nation."

defended at all, and threw away or broke those weapons which they had not the manliness to use against their enemies; for Fort Morgan never fired a gun after the commencement of the bombardment and the advance pickets of our army were actually on its glacis."

Porrest's cavalry raid and success— Hood moves on Allatoona— Repulsed — Burbridge destroys Saltville and ■works there — Hood and Beauregard — Jeff. Davis's speech and wishes — Sherman's bold plan — Hood's invasion of Tennessee—Thomas at Nashville — Rebels beaten at Franklin — Thomas assumes the offensive — Decisive battle at Nashville and rout of Hood — Sherman's arrangements and special order— Railroad destroyed and Atlanta dismantled — Sherman's line of march — Rebel blindness as to his purpose — Howard and the right wing march — Their progress to the south and east — Slocum and the left wing march eastwardly — Demonstration against Augusta — Rebels deceived — Governor Brown and others in the emergency — Milledgevillo occupied—Millen, the next point in view, reached, December 2d — The . Oconee crossed — The crossing of the Ogeechee secured — Sherman's advance to Savannah — Fort McAllister taken — Sherman's dispatch— Savannah taken and occupied.

After the fall of Atlanta, the rebel cavalry made special efforts to break Sherman's extended line of railroad communication with Nashville. On the 20th of September, the noted rebel ! raider, Forrest, with a strong cavalry force, crossed the Tennessee near Waterloo, Alabama, and attacked the garrison at Athens, consisting of 600 men, who surrendered the next day. Two regiments of reinforcements, which arrived shortly after the capture of the garrison, were also compelled to surrender to the enemy. Forrest destroyed the railroad westward, captured the garrison at Sulphur Branch trestle, skirmished with the garrison at Pulaski, on the 27th of September, and on the same day cut the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad near Tullahoma and Dechard. One column of Forrest's command, under Buford, appeared before Huntsville, on the 30th of September, and summoned our troops to surrender. This being refused, he

remained near the place till the next morning, when he renewed his demand, and received the same refusal as before. He withdrew in the direction of Athens, which town had been re-garrisoned, and attacked it on the afternoon of the 1st of October; but without success. The next morning, he renewed the attack; but he was decisively repulsed. Another column, under Forrest, appeared before Columbia, October 1st; but did not make an attack. Two days later, he moved toward Mount Pleasant. Every exertion was made by Gen. Thomas to catch and destroy the forces under Forrest, before he could recross the Tennessee; the rebel raider, however, was too active for our men, and succeeded in escaping to Corinth, Mississippi.

In the meantime, Hood had crossed the Chattahoochee from the Macon Railroad and moved on Allatoona, which was attacked by a division of his force, under French, on the 5th of
October. Gen. Sherman, who had been engaged in active preparation to resist this threatened assault on his line of communications, had ordered Gen. Corse, with reinforcements, from Rome to Allatoona. The enemy's attack was accordingly met and repulsed, Gen. Sherman himself having reached Kenesaw Mountain from Atlanta in time to gain a distant view of the military operations being carried on. "Hood, observing our approach," as Sherman wrote, on the 9th of October, "has moved rapidly back to Dallas and Van Wert, and I am watching him. in case he tries to reach Kingston or Rome. Atlanta is perfectly secure to us, and this army is better off than in camp."

In September, an expedition from East Tennessee, under Gen. Burbridge, was sent to destroy the salt works at Saltville, Virginia. He met. the enemy on the 2d of October, about three miles and a half from Saltville, and drove him into his strongly intrenched position around the salt works, from which, however, he was unable to dislodge him. During the night, Burbridge withdrew his command and returned to Kentucky. In December, another and successful attempt was made to destroy the works at Saltville, where the rebel Gen. Breckenridge now had his headquarters, detachments of his command being at Greenville, Jonesboro' and Rogersville. The new expedition was led by Gen. Stoneman, Gen. Gillem, with his brigade, taking the advance, coming up with the enemy, under Duke and Morgan, at Kingsport, defeating him and capturing Morgan, a brother of the notorious John Morgan. Stonf man push

ed on, by a forced march, to Bristol, took the town by surprise, and made many important captures. He then moved on Abingdon, Va., Gillem advancing to Marion, routing Vaughan's forces there and pursuing him to Wytheville, destroying the valuable lead mines in the vicinity. A portion of Burbridge's command, being left in the neighborhood of Glade Spring, near Saltville, was attacked by Breckenridge, with a superior force, and routed, when Gillem, coming up, turned the tide of battle, and put Breckenridge to fligbt. Saltville, and its extensive salt manufactories and works, were now effectually destroyed; a loss to the rebels of' immense severity. Our forces soon after returned to Tennessee with a vast amount of spoils.

After the movement on Allatoona, Hood, reaching Resaca on the 14th of October, made a partial attack on that place, which was successfully defended by Gen. Watkins, when Hood advanced and took possession of Dalton. CoL Johnston, in command there, surrendered the garrison, about 1,200 men, to the vastly superior force brought against him. The enemy now threatened Chattanooga, but Gen. Sherman was in pursuit of Hood, who, retiring from Dalton, moved westwardly to Lafayette, j, and thence across the Alabama state line, south-west to Jacksonville Here he was reinforced by Beauregard, who, on the 17th, assumed command of the Military Division of the West, as it was called by the rebels, Hood, at the same time, remaining at his post.*

* Beauregard issued an addess, as usual, striving to arouse the spirit of the Georgians:—"The army of

1864.

It was at this time, during the latter part of September, that Jeff. Davis went to Macon, Georgia; and, aware of the terrible blow which had already been struck, and of the necessity of doing something to counteract it, made a speech, which Pollard calls "ill tempered and swollen," and which was probably more unwise than any thing he had done for a long time. He announced a line of policy which was in imitation of Sherman's flanking movements, and in accordance with which Hood was to get to the rear of Atlanta, break up the communications of Sherman, and thus compel him to retreat again into Tennessee. By so indiscreet exposure of his plans, Davis enabled Sherman to take measures fully to meet them; and, as Grant says, in his report, "he exhibited the weakness of supposing that an army that had been beaten and fearfully decimated in a vain attempt at the defensive, could successfully undertake the offensive against the army that had so often defeated it."

Davis and his co-workers, however, did not appreciate the daring boldness and energy of the man they had to deal

Gen. Sherman still defiantly holds Atlanta. He can and must be driven from it. It is only for the good people of Georgia and the surrounding states to speak the word, and the work is done. We have abundant provisions. There are men enough in the country liable to and able for service to accomplish this result. To all such I earnestly appeal to report promptly to their respective commands, and let those who cannot go see to it that none remain who are able to strike a

blow in this critical and decisive hour

The security of your wives and daughters from the insults and outrages of a brutal foe shall be established soon, and be followed by a permanent and honorable peace. The claims of home and country, wife and children, uniting with the demands of honor and patriotism, summon us to tho field."

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with, and the course which they determined upon was exactly that which Grant and Sherman desired. The latter was entirely unwilling to remain simply on the defensive at Atlanta, and expend his energies in guarding the road to Chattanooga and Nashville; and so he formed the bold plan of cutting loose from his bases and destroying effectually the railroad to Chattanooga; thence, mainly subsisting on the rich country in the interior of Georgia, he meant to march through the state directly to the sea.

Accordingly, the damage done to the railroad having been repaired, Sherman took the preliminary steps for carrying out his plan, keeping watch meanwhile of Hood and his proceedings. The early part of November was spent in sending to Chattanooga the sick and wounded and surplus stores; in bringing to Atlanta the con valescents, furloughed men and ord nance supplies; and in getting everything in most complete readiness for the march of the army. Before pro ceeding, however, to give a narrative of Sherman's great march, we must briefly record what Hood undertook to do, under the vain delusion noted above.*

From Jacksonville Hood s army marched in a northwesterly direction to Guntersville, on the Tennessee River, which they reached on the 22d of Oc

* Gen. Grant, in his report, (p. 44) says, very forci bly: "Hood, instead of following Sherman, continued his move northward, which seemed to me to bo leading to his certain doom. At all events, had 1 had the power to command both armies, I should not have changed" the orders under which he seemed to be acting."

tober, and thence, after some delays, made their way to Florence, in the vicinity of which Forrest had been operating with his cavalry, interrupting communication on the river. Hood was now preparing for his intended invasion of Tennessee. Gen. Thomas was in command, at Nashville, of all the troops which Sherman did not wish to ;ise for his own especial purpose; and this brave and accomplished officer was diligently guarding his northern line of railroad, and preparing to meet the threatened invasion. Several weeks elapsed before Hood began his advance. On the 20th of November, he moved northwardly from Florence, between which place and Corinth his forces had been gathered, and advanced to Waynesborough and Lawrenceburg, where he outflanked the advanced Union position on the line of the Nashville and Decatur Railroad at Pulaski. From the latter place Gen. Thomas now withdrew his forces to Franklin, on the same road, eighteen miles south of Nashville. In this retreat, which was a preconcerted strategic movement of the Union commander, to concentrate his forces for the defence of the latter city, our troops were closely pursued by the enemy, whose aggregate strength, including the infantry corps of S. D. Lee, Cheatham, Stewart, and Taylor, and Forrest's superior cavalry, was estimated at about 40,000. Gen. Schofield was in command of the force at Pulaski, which consisted of Stanley's 4th and Cox's 23d corps, together with a few regiments which had recently entered the service. There was some sharp fighting on the road to Franklin, at

Columbia and Spring Hill, Forrest's cavalry pressing hard upon the column. On the 30th of November, Schofield occupied Franklin. Repeated assaults were made by the rebels during the afternoon until late at night; but they were in every instance repulsed. The rebel loss in this battle was 1,750 killed, 702 prisoners, and 3,800 wounded. Among the losses were six general officers killed, six wounded, and one captured. Our entire loss was 2,300. "This was the first serious opposition the enemy met with," says Grant, in his report, "and I am satisfied was the fatal blow to all his expectations. During the night, Gen. Schofield fell back toward Nashville. This left the field to the enemy —not lost by battle, but voluntarily abandoned—so that Gen. Thomas's whole force might be brought together. The enemy followed up and commenced the establishment of his line in front of Nashville on the 2d of December."

Although the central and southern portions of Tennessee were left open to the enemy by Schofield's retiring to Nashville, and though they drove out the garrisons and for the time possessed themselves of various towns and stations, yet they were not able to accomplish anything of moment. Murfreesborough, where Rousseau was stationed, effectually resisted the enemy; the line of road below, from Stevenson to Chattanooga, was firmly held; and the defences of Nashville, where Thomas's main arrny was, proved unassailable. Hood's army entrenched itself in front of Nashville, on the southerly side throwing up a complete line extending to the Cumberland River, on both